Rangers rebound from worst record to 6 series victories

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Three weeks ago, the Texas Rangers returned home from a miserable trip with a seven-game losing streak and the worst record in the major leagues.

New team president Nolan Ryan was meeting with the owner and the general manager. There was a players' only meeting. Second-year manager Ron Washington's job certainly appeared to be in jeopardy.

"The biggest concern I had was how we were playing. It was horrible," said Ryan, the Hall of Famer hired in February with the task of trying to revitalize the franchise for which he pitched his last game. "We found a way every day to beat ourselves."

But look at the Rangers now.

Texas has since won six straight series for the first time since 1999, the season of its last AL West title. The Rangers' 13-6 record in that span is tied with the Houston Astros for the best in the majors, and the Rangers have won games in different ways to get out of last place in the division.

"I'm very pleased with what I've seen," Ryan said.

"Bottom line is that the guys are playing up to their abilities," said general manager Jon Daniels, who insists he has never wavered in his support for the manager he hired after the 2006 season. "I give guys a lot of credit for responding and turning things around."

The Rangers (20-22) came home with a 7-16 record after being outscored 37-10 in a three-game series at Detroit that included a 19-6 loss, their worst in seven years. They were also swept at Boston, where they twice blew eighth-inning leads.

Then came all the meetings, and the turnaround.

"We got back on the same page," four-time All-Star shortstop Michael Young said. "We felt like we were about to go on a run and start playing like a team. I think we've done that."

In the homestand opener April 25 against Minnesota, the Rangers overcame an early 5-0 deficit to win 6-5 on David Murphy's RBI single in the 10th inning. That set off the kind of celebration usually seen when teams win championships: Murphy was mobbed by teammates while Washington pumped his fist and shared high-fives with anybody near him.

"We just went through a bad spell. It happens," Washington said. "It's always been there. It was just a matter of us catching a break."

Texas clinched the series against the Twins by winning the finale 10-0, then took two-of-three games against Kansas City. There were also series wins at Oakland and Settle, the two teams at Rangers Ballpark the past week.

The Rangers had the worst April in team history, losing 18 games. That was a year after matching the previous low mark with a 15-loss April in Washington's first month as their manager, which they followed with 20 more losses in May before ending the season on a 52-45 run that led the team to exercise its 2009 option on Washington's contract.

"The good thing is we didn't let that (bad) string run as long as it did last year," Millwood said.

This weekend, the Rangers open interleague play with a three-game series at home against Houston. The Astros beat San Francisco 8-7 on Thursday and are 13-6 over the past three weeks _ the best mark for a National League team in that span.

During the Texas turnaround, even with Millwood (groin) and three other starters on the disabled list, Rangers pitchers have a 3.76 ERA with 63 walks in 19 games _ after a league-worst 5.54 ERA with 114 walks the first 23 games.

Last week, the Rangers became the first AL team in four years to post three consecutive shutouts _ using at least three pitchers in each of those games.

Then in the series opener against Seattle this week, the Rangers trailed 5-0 before even batting against Erik Bedard. But they chased the ace pitcher when they took the lead in the third, and eventually won the game 13-12 on Ruben Vazquez's home run in the 10th.

Offensively, Texas has increased its scoring average from four runs a game through 23 games to more than 5 1/2 now. Josh Hamilton, the outfielder acquired from Cincinnati over the winter, leads the majors with 44 RBIs.

"My guys never quit. We just weren't getting it done, and now we're getting it done," Washington said. "When you're playing good baseball, you want to continue to play good baseball because you know how quick this game can turn."

For now, it's going in the right direction for Washington and the Rangers.

"Wash is a no-frills baseball man," Daniels said. "I give him a lot of credit. He didn't panic in the rough times, and equally as important, maybe more so, he's not overreacting to us playing well."